Aldeburgh in Suffolk, the setting for my first novel Searching for Amber, is also the backdrop to Benjamin Britten’s tragic opera Peter Grimes. I’ve woven many of the elements into my story, including use of Britten’s Four Sea Interludes and Passacaglia to mark the passage of time in the book.

Peter Grimes’s libretto was adapted by Montagu Slater from the narrative poem, “Peter Grimes,” in George Crabbe’s book The Borough. The “borough” of the opera is a fictional village which shares some similarities with Crabbe’s, and later Britten’s, own home town.

It was first performed at Sadler’s Wells in London on 7 June 1945, conducted by Reginald Goodall, and was the first of Britten’s operas to be a critical and popular success. It is still widely performed, both in the UK and internationally, and is considered part of the standard repertoire. In addition, the Four Sea Interludes were published separately (as Op. 33a) and are frequently performed as an orchestral suite. The Passacaglia was also published separately (as Op. 33b), and is also often performed, either together with the Sea Interludes or by itself.